May 26, 2026 — President Donald Trump entered the prediction markets regulatory war on Tuesday night, posting on Truth Social that it is "critically important" the CFTC keep "exclusive authority" over the sector — hours after Spain blocked Polymarket and Kalshi, and days after Indonesia imposed its own ban.
"Under my leadership, we are setting 'rules of the road' that are the Gold Standard for the States," Trump wrote at approximately 9:50 PM ET. "We cannot have SCUM like Chris Christie, Letitia James, Tim Walz, and JB Pritzker setting the rules."
The post named four officials who have moved against prediction markets at the state level: former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, who has publicly compared prediction markets to gambling products; New York Attorney General Letitia James, who filed lawsuits alleging violations of state gambling law; Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, whose office issued a cease-and-desist; and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, who last week signed a law imposing criminal penalties on prediction market operators.
Pritzker responded on Bluesky within hours. "The most corrupt President in our nation's history wants to make sure states like ours can't regulate prediction markets so his family and administration can keep profiting," he wrote.
The conflict-of-interest charge has legs. Donald Trump Jr. serves as an adviser to both Polymarket and Kalshi. Gemini, whose founders are prominent Trump supporters, has also filed to offer prediction market contracts. A New York Times investigation published May 24 reported on how prediction market and crypto firms shaped the CFTC's posture under Chair Michael Selig, who has filed lawsuits and amicus briefs defending federal jurisdiction against Illinois, Minnesota, and other states.
The jurisdictional question is simple to state and expensive to resolve: are prediction market contracts financial instruments subject to CFTC oversight, or gambling products subject to state gaming regulators? Cases have reached the federal appellate level. Analysts expect the dispute to reach the Supreme Court.
The same 24-hour window that produced Trump's post brought two more country bans. Spain's Ministry of Consumer Affairs ordered internet service providers to block Polymarket and Kalshi on May 26, citing operation without gambling licenses required under Spanish law. The country's gambling regulator, the Directorate General for Gambling Regulation (DGOJ), said the platforms lacked identity verification, protections for minors, and systems for self-excluded gamblers. The blocks are precautionary, active while formal proceedings run — a process expected to take three to four months.
Indonesia acted a day earlier. The Ministry of Communication and Digital Affairs blocked Polymarket under online gambling restrictions, with Director General Alexander Sabar stating: "The government will not make room for any form of gambling online in Indonesia." The action followed Polymarket's launch of a market tied to President Prabowo Subianto's continued tenure, which has generated more than $51,000 in trading volume.
Polymarket is now blocked in more than 30 countries, a list that includes Taiwan, Thailand, China, Japan, India, Belgium, France, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Ukraine. Combined, Polymarket and Kalshi processed approximately $9.7 billion in trading volume over the past 30 days — about 88% of the sector's top markets — according to DefiLlama data cited by CoinDesk.
Trump's post closed with an explicit appeal to competition: "Other Countries are after this new form of Financial Market, and we want to remain at the top." Whether that argument holds in federal court — or survives a conflict-of-interest challenge in the court of public opinion — remains the open question as the legal fight moves up the appellate chain.
Sources: Trump Truth Social post, May 26, 2026; CoinDesk — Trump/CFTC, May 26; CoinDesk — Spain ban, May 26; Decrypt — Indonesia ban; Indonesian Ministry statement; Governor Pritzker Bluesky post